Do You See What I See?
by shadybitch
Summary: Regina and Robin are together and madly in love with each other, but is that enough to make things work? Are they ready to take the next step? a three-piece story, Outlaw Queen, follows the timeline of my other OQ fics but you don't have to read them to understand this
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - **hi again! So, it has been a while since I last wrote about OQ, mostly because I have been really busy with university stuff and I kinda went through a bit of writer's block. But this week I forced myself to do something, and I may have gone too far since I ended up with a really long story that I decided to split in three parts. I don't know if I really liked the result but I do know that I worked hard on this and that I am improving my writing. But in the end, I just wish you guys can take something from here, honestly. About the spanish thing on the story: I had to do it, not only because I love the language (and mexican soap operas too) but also because I love the idea of Regina knowing spanish (I'm sure you guys have heard Lana speaking spanish and we can all agree that it's just the most beautiful thing in the world). About the title: as always it's a song reference, this time it's a line from Stop and Stare by OneRepublic, one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands; and I do think the lyrics of the song fit this story. Please keep in mind that I'm brazilian so both english and spanish are not my first language, and I don't have beta so you'll probably find some mistakes, and I apologize in advance. Without any further, I hope you guys read it and like it! xoxo

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**CHAPTER ONE**

"Ay, este puto merece morir!" Regina's voice came from the tv room, "Matale de una vez!"

Robin frowns at this and goes to check what's going on. "What are you doing?" he asks entering the tv room.

"Yelling at the tv", Regina answers with a matter-of-fact tone.

Robin rolls his eyes. "I gathered that much", he says annoyed. "What I meant is why are you yelling at the tv?"

"Because I want to", she says returning the annoyance. "What? You can yell at the tv when you're watching your stupid soccer games but I can't when I'm watching my things?" she asks turning off the tv.

"Fair enough", he simply says, amused by her defensive tone. "So, what in all heavens were you watching that made you so mad?" he asks sitting by her side on the couch and pulling up her feet to give them a massage.

"It's a mexican soap opera", she closes her eyes and sighs at the soft rubs he's performing. "But the characters are imbeciles, I mean, how doesn't anyone see that that poor excuse of a man is obviously cheating on his wife? El cabrón es un hijo de una puta"

Robin's head pops up to this. "Did you just speak spanish?" he asks looking at her. She merely nods affirmatively still with her eyes closed. "I didn't know you knew spanish" he comments.

She opens her eyes and looks at him like what he had just said was stupid. "How do you think I watch these things?"

If he notices her look, he ignores it. "I don't know, subtitles or something" he says shrugging.

She rolls her eyes but can't help the smile that creeps on her face at his I-don't-care attitude. "Well, it's not. I learned spanish a long time ago. It's an interesting language"

"It's a sexy language", he adds with an almost comic wiggle of his eyebrow.

"Por supuesto, especialmente porque todo se queda sensual en mis labios", she says smirking.

He stares at her with his eyes a little wide. "I have no idea what you just said but it's sexy as hell"

She laughs loudly at this, and he joins her in that simple moment. Those simple moments would happen a lot lately. They were living together at the mansion for a few months now and it was the most wonderful thing ever. She had scheduled with Emma a way so her weeks with Henry would be the same as Robin's weeks with Roland, and the four of them could be together at the house. In the weeks without the children, well, let's just say that the couple would do just fine on their own too. They had their daily routines and their organized weekends, and they would have so much fun together, regardless of what they were doing. From road trips to the nearest cities to movie marathons in the tv room, everything is amazing when the four of them are together. They're like a real family. Correction, they are a real family.

"So," Robin brings back their attentions to the present "the guy is cheating on his wife, huh?" he asks resuming the conversation.

"Yes, and no one notices. He is a womanizer and a con man; I don't know why she married him in the first place", Regina snorts.

"Maybe she loves him", he offers with a shrug.

"She doesn't. She loves Juan Carlos Manuel, and he loves her too, but they can't be together because Sarita is pregnant and claims that the child is his, which is obviously a lie since she's the biggest whore in town and he was drunk off his ass the night they allegedly slept together", Regina explains in one breath seeming genuinely frustrated with the story.

He arches his eyebrows. "Interesting plot" he comments with a chuckle.

"It's horrible", she huffs more amused than annoyed really, "but at the same time, it captivates you". He frowns at her statement but she dismisses it with a wave of her hand, "It's hard to explain"

"Maybe she married the scumbag to make the other guy jealous"

She gives him a pointed look. "That's not a good excuse do marry someone"

"Says the woman who married a man just to become Queen" he says back teasing her, but fails miserably at his attempt to joke as anger flashes in her eyes and she seems truly offended.

"That's not why I married him, I didn't even want that. There were lots of circumstances that weighed in that situation, too many to discuss, but believe me when I say that I most definitely did not marry Leopold just to become Queen", she says with a low firm tone that sends a shiver down his spine.

"I know, I know. I was just joking but apparently it's a sensitive subject", he says putting his hands up in surrender.

"Yes, well, you shouldn't joke about things that you can't even begin to comprehend", she snaps at him, still feeling hurt about his joke. "You married someone out of love, good for you, but not everyone have the luxury of a happy marriage", she amends and averts her eyes, not wanting to show any more vulnerability that she had already let on.

A heavy silence fills the room, neither of them necessarily wanting to say something nor look at each other. A minute goes by before Robin breaks the silence.

"You weren't happy at all? Not even a little bit? Not even for a little while?" he asks looking at her but she refuses to meet his eyes.

"No" she answers with a tone that clearly states this is the only thing she will share in that matter.

The silence fills the room again. And again, Robin is the one who breaks it.

"Do you think about getting married again, ever?"

It's a loaded question. He formulated it to sound like a general question, but of course he was talking about the future of their relationship. He wanted to know their options, but it felt like he couldn't ask that directly as they're still sorting out this thing they have. They were living together for a while now and although things were great it's still too soon to think about that kind of stuff. But then again, they love each other, right? It's normal to think about that kind of stuff when you love someone.

But she didn't answer his question. She didn't even look back at him. She remains silent for a split second then asks in a whisper, "Do you?"

It's a loaded question on her part too, not only for the same reasons he already contemplated but also because of the bonus that despite they not being together anymore his ex-wife was still around.

He shrugs slightly, even though she can't see it as she still doesn't dare looking at his direction. But he doesn't notice that she didn't see it as he averts his eyes away from her too.

They don't know what to say, both afraid of what the other might think. And in all honesty, they don't know what to say because they don't know how they feel about this. They are madly in love with each other, but that would be enough? That's all it takes for a marriage to work?

Besides, there were their previous experiences with marriage. Robin's wasn't bad, as Regina correctly pointed, he married Marion out of love and they were happy together, Roland was the living proof of that. But then he lost her and it was so heart wrenching and difficult to overcome, he just thinks that he couldn't bear to go through that again. And even if he never has to go through that again, there was no guarantee at all that things would work so wonderfully with Regina as it did with Marion. The former Queen was so different from his first wife, and so different from himself too, who could tell if their love could overcome those differences in the long run? He didn't want to fail another marriage; he couldn't do this to his son, to himself and definitely not to Regina who already had too many scars.

And there was Regina's previous marriage. How bad that experience was for her goes without saying. Honestly, after that, how could she ever believe in marriage again? For her, matrimony was just a bad presage. She actually felt like marrying Robin could destroy what they have. But was she willing to risk? If he wanted to try, would she be able to deny this second chance to them? A part of her, buried deep deep down, believed that Robin could change her mind about this; he would prove her that it can be a good thing, that she can have a happy marriage after all. Maybe it was just a remaining flicker of that innocent girl she was once – an innocent young girl that was forced to marry an old king – trying to rise above and claim that she made it. Could the present day Regina – a broke and scared Regina – do justice to that young girl? She knows she loves Robin, that much is clear. But what if they're stepping over the boundaries with this? What they have now is so good, they are a family; they don't need a piece of paper to confirm that. And maybe this whole shacking up thing it's all they're entitled to, it's all they can have and damn, they don't need anything else, right?

They've been silent for a long time now, lost in their own thoughts. This time it's Regina who breaks it. "Are you happy?"

He frowns, confused. "With something specific or just in general?"

"In general. With something specific" she says, unsure. She then takes a deep breath and asks "Are you happy living here? Are you happy with me?"

His insides crumbles with the doubt in her voice. He pulls her legs and gets closer to her, touching her cheek.

"Of course I'm happy. More than happy, I'm… I don't know what's above happy but I am that", she chuckles at his goofy sweetness while leaning into his touch. Then it's his turn to ask "Are you happy with me here?"

"I really am", she replies promptly. They smile softly at each other and share chaste kiss. She then locks gaze with him when they pull back. "That's all we need, right? This is enough for us?"

He hesitates for a split second and says "Yes, it is. You are what I need and you are more than enough for me"

She smiles brightly at this and whispers into his mouth as they kiss again, "I love you".

And just then they seal a silent agreement that they will never get married.

**tbc…**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** - thank you all for the follows, favorites and reviews, I'm so glad this caught your attention! I hope you guys like the second chapter! xoxo

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**CHAPTER TWO**

It was little Neal's first birthday. As it was a child's party, Grannys wouldn't be the best place to host it, and since Mary Margaret and David's loft was too small, Regina offered the mansion to receive the gathering. She was thrilled about this, it had been so long since she had hosted a child's birthday party, and she missed both the planning and the executing.

And yes, of course she was the one who organized the whole thing. Not only because it was her house, but especially because she was the only one among the Charming-Mills family that actually knew how to organize a child's birthday party, since she was the only who had in fact raised a child and therefore had done that many times before.

Now there they were at 108 Mifflin Street in the biggest birthday party this town had ever seen. Regina was really proud of herself, things were going exactly according to plan and everybody seemed to be having fun. Including the birthday boy, who had just recovered from a crying crisis as Hook startled him with his lack of hand (at least he had the common sense of not wearing his hook at a child's party). Regina soothed little Neal and took him to drink a bit of water in the kitchen; now they were heading back to the party looking for dear mommy Snow White.

Regina found her in the porch chatting with Emma, Ruby, Belle and Robin. She approached the group and returned the baby to Snow, then took a place besides her boyfriend.

"Hi honey", the pixie brunette greeted Neal with a high pitched voice, "Uncle Killian scared you but auntie Regina calmed you down, huh?"

"Hey, don't say it like that. You're gonna put the baby against a men who's physically handicapped", Emma quipped.

"Oh please Miss Swan, Hook is everything but invalid", Regina says back.

"Yeah, you would know", Emma mutters with a knowing smile, remembering information she and Robin learned months ago about Regina and Hook's past, though these days the story brings more amusement than sorrow to the group.

"What was that?" Ruby asks with curiosity noticing the smirks the blonde exchanged with Regina and Robin.

"Nothing, she's drunk on soda", Regina replies with a roll of her eyes but the smirk was still there.

"Yeah, this thing is strong", she says swirling the last contents of her glass and emptying it in one gulp, making everybody laugh.

Emma herself changes the topic of the conversation. "So, Belle", she points to the wedding ring on the other woman's finger, "A year, huh? How is married life treating you?"

"Oh, it's wonderful, I couldn't be happier", she starts and her eyes immediately stares into distance like she was recalling a beautiful memory; the clear blue in her eyes shining vividly. "I can't explain how truly amazing it is to me to feel that I am officially bound to the person I love most in the world. We have gone through so much, Rumple and I, we have our grievances, our fears, our doubts. But we also have each other, and our love for each other, and our marriage it's the proof that what we have is True Love. This", she holds up her wedding ring, "it's our daily reminder that we made it, and together we can accomplish anything. Getting married was the best decision we ever made because it only strengthens our love every single day."

"Damn, you really are happy", Emma sneers teasingly and everybody laughs again.

But Regina and Robin don't find it that funny. In fact, Belle's speech about marriage makes both of them a little edgy. It's been a couple of months since their talk about the subject, and this entire time they never even mentioned it again. It's not because they never thought about it again, because they most certainly did. They thought about it more now than before the day that silent agreement was sealed. Sometimes late at night when they both go to bed and don't fall asleep right away, they question themselves if it wasn't a rushed decision, if they should talk about it again. But they never did, they never talked about it again, and now it's a little unsettling for them be a part of this conversation the group was having.

"So when are you and Hook going to get married?" Belle asks the blonde.

"Wow, not so soon" Emma answers with her palms up as to slow down the woman. She then receives a glare from her mother, "I mean, I do think about this kind of stuff, my parents would probably kill me if I didn't", Snow rolls her eyes at this but she also smiles because honestly that's true, "but we have no plans yet to tie the knot anytime soon. Regina and Robin will probably do it before us"

Everybody then turns to face the couple. Robin clears his throat awkwardly and Regina gives a pause before saying a bit anxious "We are not going to get married".

Surprise and confusion covers the faces of everyone in the small circle. Snow, ever the hungry for more information-sharing, asks "Meaning you also have no plans to get married anytime soon?"

"Meaning we have no plans to get married at all"

Snow's eyes bulge out of her skull. "Oh my God, are you two breaking up?"

"Mom!", Emma scolds her through gritted teeth.

"We're not. We're fine, better than fine actually. We just talked about it and decided that what we have is enough and we don't have to get married. Ever" she was feeling odd sharing this personal information with these people but she was also feeling defensive and wanted to show that it was a rational well founded decision and it was no big deal.

But Snow was having none of this. "Decided based on what?"

"Mom, it's none of our business", Emma says glaring at her mother. Regina really appreciated the rare but existent common sense Emma seems to have sometimes.

Snow then went about justifying herself. "I just want to understand, I mean, how could you just decided that you're never going to get married? That seems disturbingly premature and…"

"Save your judgment for someone that actually cares, Snow", Regina snaps and storms out.

An awkward silence runs in the circle. "I'll go talk to her", Robin claims and enters the house; what he really wanted though was just to get out of prying eyes too.

He reached Regina just when she was entering the kitchen. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine", she says but her tension is as clear as his blue eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No", she dismisses and sighs. "It's fine, really. I'm going to get the popcorn", then she walks away.

He knew she was holding something back but didn't press on it. He had a feeling they would be returning to this topic soon enough.

* * *

The party was over and everybody had already left the mansion. Henry and Roland were sleeping. The only living souls in the house besides Regina and Robin were Mary Margaret and David, but they were gathering their last belongings and getting ready to go home as well.

Regina couldn't stop thinking about the conversation from earlier. How everyone reacted to her statement that she and Robin won't ever get married, it was unsettling and she didn't know why. She didn't care about what others think and both she and Robin were on the same page on the subject.

Or maybe they weren't. Maybe she was starting to second guess herself. Hearing from Belle the wonders of being married to someone you actually love made something inside Regina click. She started to think how would be like being Robin's wife legitimately, wearing wedding bands, having a wedding party that she would actually enjoy and a wedding album fill with photos from that special day. She was thinking about being bound to her soul mate for the rest of her life in every way existent, and it was a rather exciting feeling.

No. This isn't happening. She is not about to give up on her rational well founded decision just because of a stupid conversation with Belle and Snow White of all people, the infuriately poster girls for the True-Love-conquers-all crap. She is not changing her mind over that. "Get your shit together, Regina", she hissed to herself before heading to the porch and say her goodnights to the Charmings.

David had put the last things on his truck as Mary Margaret stayed behind to say goodbye to Regina.

"Thank you for the party Regina, it was lovely. I couldn't ever make a more special first birthday to my son."

"Yes, well, since you thanked me already 65 times today I think I believe what you're saying", the former queen says with an annoyed tone, though she's not annoyed at all; it's nice to finally have people thanking her for her efforts, especially Snow White. She then opens a small smile adding "And please, it's the least I could do. I am his godmother".

"That you are", Snow stresses with the biggest of grins. But then half of a second later she frowns and looks a little uncomfortable. "Listen Regina, about earlier today, when we were talking about getting married, I didn't mean to be judgmental. I'm sorry if it sounded like that but I wasn't judging you, honestly, I really just wanted to understand".

Regina sighs. She knew Snow was being sincere, she knew the woman didn't mean to upset her. It was more like a force of habit letting the pixie brunette get under her skin, even if it was unintentional.

"But I shouldn't have insisted on the matter", Snow carries on, "I was being nosy and I apologize. But I want you to know that I'm here if you want to talk about anything. Anything at all"

Regina considers her words. She really wanted to talk about this with someone, and in terms of successful marriage, Snow was definitely the best candidate. But she would also have to reveal the nature of her fears and most of them were related to her previous husband, who happens to be Snow's father. So no, she definitely couldn't talk about this with her former stepdaughter.

"I know, Snow. And thank you", she offers a tired smile, "But really, everything is fine".

"You do know that 'everything is fine' is the mantra for people who are actually not fine, right?" Snow says back, and Regina opens her mouth to argue but she's cut off by the other woman. "But I won't pry anymore. I made my offer to talk, when you feel ready you can come to me. In the meantime, thank you again for the party and have a goodnight". Then she reaches for Neal's little fist and waves a goodbye as she moves towards David's truck, "Bye auntie Regina".

Regina just sighs and waves back, "Bye cutie pie". She watches the trio leave then steps inside the mansion and closes the door.

The former queen finds Robin sprawled on the couch in the living room. Upon seeing her entering the room, he adjusts his position and pats a small space at his side inviting her to sit with him. She smiles and sits, he then pulls her closer and she gives in to the embrace, sighing at how good that feels.

They sat like that on the couch for several minutes, in silence.

Robin was the one who broke it. "A penny for your thoughts?"

She didn't want to share her thoughts. She was still thinking about the marriage conversation. She didn't want to freak him out by letting him know that she was rethinking their agreement.

"A dollar for yours?" she asks back, stepping out of the spotlight.

"You know Regina, there will come a time when you'll have to go first"

She chuckles at his annoyed response.

He sighs and comes clean. "I was thinking about earlier today, that whole talk about matrimony"

Her heart races at this. "Really?"

"Yeah", he knows she's thinking about that too and that she's very anxious about it, but he doesn't know exactly why.

"Why were you thinking about this?" she asks tentatively.

"I don't know". He couldn't read Regina's body language right now, he didn't know what she thought about what had been said, and he was afraid of saying the wrong thing. "It's just… Belle's words about how wonderful it is the married life got stuck in my head", he says paying attention to her reaction so he could assess what he should do here.

Regina's heart shot up to her throat and she was sure her palms were sweaty. It was just then she realized how badly she wanted him to say that he changed his mind and they should think about getting married someday. She realized that in fact, yes, she really wanted to be his wife.

But she couldn't show her hand just now, so she puts on the best sarcastic smile she can despite the fact that her statement was all but sarcastic, "What? Are you changing your mind because of what she said?". And in her mind and her heart she was screaming _"please say yes, please say yes"_

Robin hesitated. That was sarcasm, right? This means she didn't approve of what Belle said, ergo she would not receive well what he wanted to say. Because what he truly wanted to say is that yes, he had changed his mind. He wanted to go back on their agreement, he wanted to give it a try with her. He wanted to marry the fuck out of Regina.

But he couldn't tell her that. She would freak out. He knew how hard it was for her to open up, how hard it is for her to wake up every morning and not run from this, from him, from what they have. He knows that she fights her fears every second of every day as her first instinct is to run away from happiness, because that is something she would never fully believe she deserves. So no, he's not about to jeopardize what they have and how far they've come with something that they already agreed it's not for them. He has to let it go.

"Of course not", he says and forces a laugh, "I was just thinking how silly it was, that's all". And he shuts up after this because he already can feel his throat closing with agony.

And for Regina, well, she just summons every little bit of energy she has left to not allow herself to break in front of him.

**tbc…**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N -** there you go, the final chapter! sorry it took so long! before you read though, I feel like I should address to something. I'm really happy y'all seemed to enjoy Snow's participation in this fic, I loved that too (that's why I wrote it, duh). and yes, Regina should talk to her, not just about marriage but about a lot of things, I mean, these two have a lifetime of issues to work through. and in all my head canons they do talk about all those things, and I really do hope that someday I will feel inspired enough to write this. it's just not now. this is an Outlaw Queen story, and though I see how it could have been a bit Snow Queen too, I didn't feel comfortable mixing up 'cause I feel like they belong in different compartments in Regina's life. and mostly because I'm a novice and would probably mess it up if I tried to do more than I had planned. but I want very much to write about Snow Queen, and I'm glad that apparently I would have audience for that. all that being clarified, you can go read the final part now, I sincerely hope you like it! thanks again for all the alerts and reviews and love and support, y'all rock! luv u guys xoxo

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**CHAPTER THREE**

Things weren't the same between them. Since the night of Neal's birthday, three weeks ago, something changed. Neither could tell what or why, but something wasn't right. And it was unsettling to no end.

But deep down they knew what was that all about. They just couldn't make the connection. They weren't connecting with each other quite so well anymore. Even the playful little fights they always had, it was gone. The fire was practically gone.

Upon realizing this, Regina thought that they were right after all, they shouldn't get married. They are already failing at this relationship without that little detail to aggravate things.

Robin, in the other hand, thought that there was only one way to bring the fire back, to shake things up. So he didn't give it a second thought, he had to do this.

He pulled his phone from his jacket and dialed Regina's number. At the third ring she answered with a soft 'hi'. He was already grinning when he said, "Bee? Prepare yourself because tonight I'm taking you out".

* * *

"Seriously? The woods?" Regina huffs annoyed as Robin holds her hand and guides her through the part of the forest surrounding Storybrooke where he used to live when they came with the last curse. "When you said you're taking me out I thought of something a little less dirty"

He turns and smirks at her.

"And this is not the good kind of dirty, by the way", she says still annoyed.

He laughs loudly at this. "Patience woman, we're almost there"

"There where?" she's growing really irritated by this point.

He just remains silent for a few more steps, then they emerge into a clearing with torches hanging up on the nearest trees making the center of it well illuminated, and he says "Here". She takes in her surroundings while he continues "You probably won't remember because, well, it's basically only trees to you but it was here that you and I…"

"Kissed for the first time", she finishes for him because yes, of course she remembers this.

He breaks into a full grin at this. "So you do remember", he squeezes her hand pulling her to the center of the clearing, "That just makes everything more awesome".

She rolls her eyes at his wording. "You are spending too much time with Henry"

"Actually that one I catch from Emma, she uses it a lot", he explains with a chuckle.

"Yes, well, my point is still proven since Miss Swan has the vocabulary of a fourteen year old boy", she scoffs.

He laughs out loud at this. "I'll tell her you said that" he challenges teasingly.

"I'm not saying any lies", she says matter-of-factly. "But I do hope you didn't bring me out here to talk about Miss Swan's lack of education"

"No… but that does seem a good topic for conversation right now", he adds smiling sheepishly as he let go of her hands and rubs the back of his neck.

Regina senses the growing nerves in Robin's attitude and starts to get a little anxious too. Surely he wasn't about to break up with her, right? Bring her to the place where they first kiss to do that was just beyond cruel, he couldn't. So why was he so nervous then?

"Robin, what is going on?" she asks a little hesitant. She is almost 100% certain that she's not ready for what is about to happen, whatever that is, but she wants to get it over with soon. The waiting is the worst.

He nods. "Okay". He takes a deep breath. And then another. "Okay, okay. Let's do this", he says before grabbing her hands again and locking gazes with her.

She just takes a deep breath of her own and braces herself for what is about to go down.

"Regina" he starts, "I love you". A smiles creeps on her face and when she's about to say something but he cuts her off, "No, let me say all I have to say".

She gets serious and anxious again.

"I love you", he continues. "Every day I wake up beside you it's a day worth living and there's no greater reward in life than having the opportunity to look into your deep strong brown eyes and say how much I love you and how happy I am to be with you"

She can feel the stinging tears in the back of her eyes.

"I am so proud of how far we've come, how things are between us. I love living with you, being there for you, having a family with you. It's amazing and it's enough. But you see, with each day that passes I love you more, and I want to have more with you. I'll always want more with you because all you give me it's just amazing, and it makes me the happiest man ever. So I'll always want to take the next step with you"

She held her breath right there. This couldn't be heading where she thinks it is, right?

"And that terrifies me because, seriously, all of this could backfire anytime. It could all go wrong, and that is scary as hell because the last thing I want is to lose you. Because I love you. And I love you so much that I believe we're always going to be okay, so I'm willing to take any risk with you, because I know that we can do it. Together"

She was starting to panic, _"oh dear lord, what's going on here?"_

"What I'm trying to say is that I believe in us. I believe our love it's strong enough to overcome anything. It's bloody True Love, right? Nothing can separate us. Together we can do anything, including fight old fears. I believe we are ready and I believe we can handle it", he takes a deep breath here. "That being said, I need to ask you something"

He let go of her hands and reached for the inside pocket of his jacket, pulling out a small black box. Regina's brain threatens to short-circuit as she has the confirmation of what it's about to happen. _"oh god, oh god, oh god"_

He gives her a sweet little smile then gets down on one knee, still locking gazes with her. _"Holy Mary Margaret mother of Emma and Neal, this isn't happening, it can't be happening"_, she thinks to herself.

He opens the little black box and she can see that inside resides a delicate silver ring. Its stone it's no bigger than a button of a blackberry, but it is a bright red that shines even more vividly as it reflects the flames from the torches. As Regina looks directly to the stone she realizes the shape of it: it's an apple.

He clears his throat then starts "Regina Mills", and she closes her eyes for a moment. Her mind is swirling uninterruptedly and she's afraid she might black out from the overwhelming sensations consuming her right now. She only hears his voice as he goes for the final blow.

"Will you marry me?"

Those words she thought she would never hear again. Words she thought she never wanted to hear again. She made herself believe that she didn't need nor want get married again, and everything was fine about that. Except it wasn't. She found another soul mate, she had a new someone in her life, someone she loved more than she thought possible. And she was so fucking happy with him. She wanted to make that official, she wanted to be his in every way possible, and she wanted him to be hers in every way possible. But then when that option seemed out of the table, she converted to her old ways, she made herself believe that all of this wasn't going to end up well anyway and it was best to let it go.

So she did, and he has to do it too. He's only proposing to her now because he thinks that this is the only option left, he can't possibly believe that they can actually make this work. So she has to open his eyes for what it's best to the both of them. It falls in her hands the power to make the right decision. She tries to summon strength to open her eyes and look into deep blue ones, expecting to see his despair, doubt, confusion, sadness, disappointment and hurt.

But when she does, when she opens her eyes and look into his, she doesn't see any of that. He is smiling at her, not only with his lips, but with his eyes too. What she sees in his eyes knock the air out of her lungs. She sees understanding, passion, belief, strength, certainty and damn, so much love. All that he said about being happy with her, about wanting more with her, about believing they could accomplish anything together, she could see all there in his eyes right now, crystal clear. She sees his heart through his eyes.

And that is enough for her to shut her brain down right there and look for the answer to his question in her heart, because really, that's where the happiness resides. And it was there that she found the right answer to his question.

"Yes", she says letting the tears finally break through and letting herself be filled with love once again, "Yes, I will marry you".

**the end**


End file.
